Life-sized Hotwheels Darth Vader car hits Comic Con

Darth Vader might traverse distant galaxies in a Tie Fighter, but what about when he’s in California? Mattel’s answer: a Corvette-based car Darth Vader car. Appearing at Comic Con this week, the one-off is part of a release event for a new line of Star Wars-inspired Hot Wheels cars.

The full-scale Vader mobile was painstakingly designed to imitate the 1:64 scale HotWheels version in every way ... and like the Death Star, Mattel says it will be fully-operational.

Using a C5 Corvette chassis as the working platform, the car is reportedly capable of doing 80 mph (129 km/h). The one-off also features Lightsaber side pipes to go with the cockpit and grill designed to resemble Vader’s mask. To complete the car’s transition to the dark side, the creators incorporated Lord Vader’s signature breathing into the car.

The full-sized Vader-mobile will be on display at Comic Con in San Diego this week while the diminutive HotWheels versions will be on sale at the Mattel booth for US$40.

New video showing Lord Vader's car in action is now available for viewing

Born on the cold, barren Canadian plains of Calgary, Alberta, Angus MacKenzie couldn’t decide between marketing, automotives or an entrepreneurial path - so he chose all three. With an education in automotives and marketing, Angus has rebuilt the carburetor on his 1963 Rambler Ambassador twice, gotten a speeding ticket in an F430 once, and driven & photographed everything from Lamborghinis to Maseratis to various German and Asian designs. When not writing, Angus has for the past six years been Editor-in-Chief for elemente, an internationally recognized architecture/design magazine.